


DUFF

by CrashHale



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Falling In Love, Family, Fluff, Friends to Enemies, Friendship, Light Angst, Makeover, Opposites Attract, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-13 01:47:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29768844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrashHale/pseuds/CrashHale
Summary: After finding out she's the DUFF (designated ugly fat friend) of her friend group, Betty enlists her next door neighbor Sweet Pea to help her shed the undesirable title. Inspired by the movie 'The DUFF'.
Relationships: Betty Cooper/Sweet Pea
Comments: 25
Kudos: 30





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've been gone for awhile so please be gentle on me with this one. I'm going to try and write more for it but for now this is all I have. I'm not 100% sure where I'm going with it, so I may add tags as I go, I will give warning if it's anything rating sensitive. I rated it M for now just in case, since I'm thinking I might do mild smut.  
> I am basing this fic on the movie 'The DUFF' but it won't be exactly the same. I hope you like it!  
> Unedited.

Betty’s really not sure what she’s doing here, dancing awkwardly with her two beautiful, perfect best friends, Veronica and Cheryl. She’s not the type of girl to go to parties, unless one of her best friends is throwing it and she’s obligated to come. But this isn’t even that, and the only reason she’s here is because Veronica used Archie being here as an allure. 

Archie, Archie Andrews, the gorgeous, kind, musician who she’s been in love with for forever, but has never worked up the courage to speak more than two words to. Literally. 

Bored, and hot from dancing, she makes up a quick excuse to leave Cheryl and Veronica and slips through the crowd and over to the refreshments table. Biting her lip, she looks hard to try and find anything that’s not alcohol, because why anyone would drink it is beyond her. 

Too lost in concentration, and now mild irritation, she doesn’t notice Sweet Pea until it’s too late and he’s already standing next to her, smirking like a freak. 

“Looking for a glass of milk there, Cooper?”

She frowns at him and rolls her eyes. “Water at least,”

She watches in confusion as he reaches under the table and hands her a bottle, then continues making his own mixed drink.

She doesn’t thank him, but she does take a sip of the cool water. The bottle is wet so there must be a cooler under the table. She doesn’t care to look now that she’s got what she wanted. 

She looks over the sea of people in the large house, she doesn’t even recognise some of them. Are there even this many people at their school?

She can feel Sweet Pea’s amused stare on her. He’s always “amused” about something, the man-whore from her past. Very, very past, like friends when they were toddlers past, splashing around in blowup swimming pools. 

Now he’s in a _gang_ , covered in tattoos, over six foot tall, and fucks every girl he can get his hands on for fun. It’s crazy to think how close they used to be, and she has no interest in the kind of person he’s become now to still be friends with him. He’s her next door neighbor and her dad always talks to and asks about him, like they’re still friends, but she just ignores it. 

She’s got two friends, she doesn’t need more, and she’s too busy with school, tutoring, and the paper to have energy for much more. Her only extracurricular is daydreaming about steamy Archie. 

He’s outside somewhere, and she’s trying her best not to creep out the window and look. Instead, she searches the crowd for her friends and smiles as they wave to her, and she waves back. 

“Well, hello, ladies,” Sweet Pea says creepily next to her, only loud enough for the two of them to hear, and she scrunches her nose, looking up at him. 

“Your friends ask about me?”

She raises an eyebrow. “Please, they’re both too good for you,”

“Oh, really?” he asks, not at all bothered by her comment. “I beg to differ, Cooper… I even bet they’d thank you for sending them my way,” he says cockily. “And I’d have absolutely no problem taking care of both of them in one go,” 

She looks sideways at him, at the way he’s watching her friends dance together. Sweet Pea is good looking, and what’s worse is that he knows it. He’s tall, dark, and handsome, muscles everywhere and has the bad boy thing going on that for some reason girls go stupid for. 

Well not Betty, she sees right through him. Not that he’s trying to hit on her or anything, quite the opposite. “Listen, it’s not my job to set them up with anyone, especially you,” Besides, Veronica has a long line of guys at her disposal, and Cheryl’s gay, not that anyone other than Betty and Veronica know. 

“It kind of is your job, though,” he says, making her eyes shift to him again. 

“Excuse me?”

“As their DUFF, Cooper, it’s your job,”

“Their DUFF?” she asks, confused, she’s not sure what a DUFF is but she’s already offended. 

“Designated Ugly Fat Friend,”

Her jaw falls open in shock. Okay, so Betty’s not as beautiful, rich, popular, or fashionable as her best friends. She wears sweaters and jeans, she pulls her hair into ponytails and doesn’t have time for makeup, but she’s never thought of herself as ugly. And the nerve of him to call her fat. Standards these days are out of control. She’s a size six at most, and that’s considered fat now? 

Her face must be as red as a tomato from anger by the time Sweet Pea looks at her, because he suddenly seems a bit scared of her, not that he’s going to show it by running off or anything.

He puts his hands out in defence, his drink still in one. “It’s nothing bad, being the DUFF doesn’t mean you have to be ugly or fat, all it means is that you’re the approachable one in the group, and it’s your job to talk to potential hookups for your friends,”

She’s still looking at him, shocked at this new revelation. He’s… kind of right, now that she thinks about it.

She can’t even count the amount of guys who have come up to her asking about her two hot cheerleader friends. 

Sweet Pea is still talking, apologizing for hurting her feelings and explaining further what her role as a DUFF entails, but she’s stopped listening, and when Cheryl smiles at her from across the room and waves her back over to them, she leaves the house instead. Her breathing is becoming shallower and she just needs a moment away from the stuffy house.

She finds a spot in the front yard, the muffled sounds of the music from the house and random shouting now becoming part of the background.

She touches her ponytail and looks down at her unfashionable sweater and jeans. She’s not one to be down on herself often, but Sweet Pea is right.

Veronica is confident and sophisticated and with the money her parents make can have whatever she wants. Cheryl as well, she’s almost too beautiful to even look at, her stunning figure always on display and her pouty red lips the focus of every room she enters, not to mention her family is richer than Veronica’s by tenfold.

Have her friends known this all along and just been using her? Why haven’t they done anything to help her, why haven’t they _told_ her?

She’s so irrationally upset and angry that by the time Cheryl and Veronica find her on the front lawn, asking what’s wrong, she can’t help but throw a bunch of accusations at them.

They’re both looking at her shocked, like she’s crazy, and she probably is, but she can’t help it. She’s sick of always being the invisible one, the boring one, the nerdy one.

“Betty, we have no idea what you’re talking about,” Veronica says, her brow pulled together in concern. 

“We never said anything or did anything because we don’t think there’s anything wrong with you,” Cheryl chimes in.

“Look at you!” she tells them, on the verge of tears. “You’re perfect, look at your makeup, your clothes, and look at me!”

They both look at her like they pity her. Yeah, poor Betty Cooper, always locked away in the stuffy school newspaper lab while her popular best friends practice their cheerleading routines outside on the football field with the rest of the popular people. 

“How come you never offered to do my hair or makeup, never offered to give me a makeover? Never offered me a spot of the cheer squad?” Cheryl’s the head cheerleader, she’s sure she could make it happen. 

“Because you’re beautiful as you are, Betty,” Veronica says, and she hates them a little more for being so kind on top of all their other attractive qualities. “We didn’t think you wanted to do your hair or makeup differently, or wanted a makeover for that matter. Why would we want to change who you are?”

“And since when do you want to cheer?” Cheryl asks. 

Betty huffs and rolls her eyes, ignoring that last comment because Cheryl has a point. She doesn’t want to cheer. “Real friends would want to make me better, give me every opportunity they have,”

“Real friends?” Cheryl asks, clearly offended. “We’ve been real friends to each other since we met, why are you questioning us when we’ve done nothing wrong?”

Unable to hold her tears in for much longer, she knows she needs to get out of here. “Don’t text or call me,” she tells them, a heaviness on her chest, “and _don’t_ talk to me at school on Monday!” 

She leaves it at that, turning quickly and power walking down the street. She drove Cheryl and Veronica here, always the chauffeur, but she’s sure they can find their own way home. Cheryl and Veronica have the power to make anyone do anything they want.

Stupid fat tears fall down her face as she drives, and by the time she gets home, she’s all cried out, but the anger remains.

She’s too wired to sleep, so instead she works on an English paper to distract herself. She’s on her laptop for ages before she can’t look at the screen anymore, her eyes red and sore, so she takes a shower to try and ease the tension of the day.

She’s in her fluffy pink robe and slippers, ready for bed, when she walks over to her window and looks across at Sweet Pea’s house. The kitchen light is on and she can see Sweet Pea and his mom, screaming at each other like they always do.

She sighed, because as much as she hates it, she knows more about Sweet Pea’s life, and he about hers, than she likes to admit. They’re similar in a lot of ways. They both live in the middle of Riverdale, the part of town that’s not poor, but not rich either, and they both only have one parent left. Sweet Pea’s dad left and Betty’s mom died.

But while Betty’s mom’s death brought her and her dad closer together, Sweet Pea’s dad leaving had created a huge tension and divide between him and his mom. It wasn’t a huge shock that he left, Sweet Pea’s dad wasn’t the nicest of people and never seemed to care much for his family, even back when Betty was young and didn’t fully understand the situation.

Sweet Pea’s bedroom light turns on, and before she can question herself, she’s climbing out of her window and walking over towards Sweet Pea’s house. They both have ranch style homes, so it’s easy to sneak out.

His curtains are open and he’s shirtless, and before he begins with his jeans, she quickly knocks on the window to get his attention. It’s too much seeing him without his shirt on, strong muscles, ink dancing across tanned skin, dog tags hanging down the middle of his chest, that she thinks she might burst into flames if he was to take his pants off too.

The scowl falls off his face as if it wasn’t even there a moment ago, from fighting with his mom, and instead he’s amused again, coming to the window to open it for her.

“Cooper,” he says welcomingly, “to what do I owe this late night pleasure?”

She rolls her eyes but accepts his hand to help her climb up through his window.

He laughs lightly and she realizes how stupid she must look. Her hair is still half wet and she’s in a fluffy pink robe and slippers, climbing into his window.

She straightens her back, tightens her robe, and takes a deep breath, pretending like she doesn’t look ridiculous.

“I was thinking,” she tells him, taking a quick glance around his bedroom. It’s similar to when they were younger, not messy but also not tidy. There’s a new, much bigger bed, in place of his old one, but his dresser and desk are the same. She expected black everything, with posters of half naked women on the walls, but she guesses it’s not the 90’s anymore and people don’t actually do that.

“When are you not thinking?” he smirks, unbuckling his belt.

“Don’t you dare take your pants off in front of me,” she warns, lifting a hand up to try and block the view.

He just laughs. “What? You never seen a guy as sexy as me naked?”

She feels her cheeks flush despite herself, and thinks about how good Archie must look under his t-shirt. He looks so good already, completely dressed.

“Ever seen _any_ guy naked?” he questions, a bit more seriously.

“Do you ever shut up?” she asks.

He shrugs his big shoulders, the snake on his neck distracting her for a moment. He joined the Serpents shortly after his dad left, and that’s when all the problems with his mom began.

He seems to decide to put her out of her misery and asks, “What’s up?”

“I was thinking, if you help me not be a DUFF anymore, I’ll help you get your grades up,”

He frowns. “What makes you think I need help with my grades?”

She raises her eyebrows knowingly at him. He’s never really been one for school.

This time he rolls his eyes and it’s a little comical. “Okay. What makes you think I _care_ to get my grades up?”

“Because,” she begins. “Even though you probably don’t want to go to college, I know you at least want to graduate high school,” _Unlike your dad_ , she wants to add, but doesn’t. They both know that’s what it really is.

“Listen, Cooper,” he sighs, running his hand up over his dark hair. “I’m sorry I said that stupid thing at the party, it’s not true,”

“It is,” she interjects, “And it’s okay, I just want your help being more…” - How had he phrased it? That she was the approachable one. - “... _unapproachable,_ ”

He laughs, his dark eyes looking her up and down. She fights not to run off screaming, because she’s still dressed like a crazy person and the way he’s looking at her makes her a little bit uncomfortable.

“Okay, are you free to start tomorrow?”

“Really?” She’s a little shocked he’s going for it. She doesn’t wait for his reply to say, “Yes, yes I’m free. I’ll meet you out front at ten, we can go study at the library together,”

He frowns. “Library, on a Sunday? No, Cooper, we’ll start with you first and head to the mall together. Meet me in my mom’s car at eleven,”

She doesn’t want to argue, and she’s just glad he doesn’t want to take his dangerous bike, so she agrees with a nod and does her best to be graceful as she climbs back out of his window and heads for her house again.

She’s pretty sure she hears him laugh, but she’s not going to turn around now and question this insane plan. She’s sick of being herself, she’s sick of being too scared to ask Archie out. Once she gets some training from her next door neighbor man-whore, she’s sure she’ll at least find the courage to speak to Archie, and she can take things from there.


	2. Chapter 2

Considering she just “broke-up” with her two best friends the night before, Betty sleeps oddly well, waking up early and making breakfast for her dad to distract herself from the fact that neither of them texted or called her like she had demanded. Truth is that she  _ is _ still angry with them, but at the same time she knows that they are real friends, and it was wrong of her to treat them like she did.

She asks her dad if it’s okay to use her credit card to buy some clothes today, since she’s not sure exactly what Sweet Pea has in plan, but just in case. Her dad seems pleasantly surprised that she wants to spend money on normal things, and tells her to go ahead.

She gets ready and heads over to the driveway next door. Her dad hadn’t asked who she was going to the mall with, probably assuming it was the girls, so she didn’t offer up any information she didn’t have to.

Of course, she’s there before Sweet Pea, and she watches with an annoyed look on her face as he struts out of his front door, like he’s not running late.

“Morning, Cooper, I see you’ve gone with sweater chic again today, surprise, surprise,”

She frowns as she looks down at herself. What’s wrong with her sweater?

“Do you own anything other than sweaters?” he asks, unlocking the doors to his mom’s car and the two of them get in. “I’m going to raid your closet later,”

Her frown only deepens. Sweet Pea isn’t who she’d have in mind for a makeover, but she decides she’s already doing this, so she may as well be all in. Besides, if he suggests something she’s really uncomfortable in, like a skanky outfit that he prefers girls in, she’ll just tell him to piss off.

“So,” he says, after she doesn’t say anything, “how come you came to me about this instead of Cheryl and Veronica?”

She shrugs, biting on her lip. She doesn’t want to tell him she had a fight with them last night, doesn’t want to tell him she feels insecure going to someone she cares about with this, but by the time he stops and gets them both coffee through the drive-thru, she’s spilling her cuts.

She tells him about the fight she had with her best friends, and how she’s still mad but also a bit remorseful, how she feels insecure asking them for help now, and how this is way easier with him, because they aren’t really friends.

“Ouch,” he says in mock offense.

“You know what I mean,” she signs. “They’re both perfect, and I feel so…  _ average _ around them,”

He finds a spot to park in and turns to her. He’s got a long sleeved black shirt on, and with the way he’s seated she only sees a sliver of tattoo creeping up his neck. He almost looks normal, like the boy she used to know, not this gang banger slut he’s turned into.

“Come on, Cooper,” he half smiles. “I’m not saying Cheryl and Veronica aren’t gorgeous, but they aren’t perfect,”

She wants to defend them almost, tell Sweet Pea they are, but she just bites her lip and decides to hear him out. She feels kind of vulnerable here, in his hands, figuratively of course.

“Cheryl’s tits are great, but they’re too big for her body type… Yours on the other hand,” he glances down at her chest and she feels herself go hot, “Well, even though they’re always covered up by sweaters, I can tell they’re the perfect size for your body,”

“What are you, a breasts expert?”

“I am,” he says far too seriously, but there’s a hint of playfulness. “Speaking of which, Veronica doesn’t have enough of a rack… but her ass more than makes up for it,”

“Oh my god,” Betty says, wanting to stop him. “I don’t want to hear this,” It’s wrong, him judging two beautiful women like this.

“No, but seriously, I’m not saying they have to be perfect… just that they aren’t, and it’s totally okay, they’re still beautiful. You don’t have to be perfect either, to be beautiful…. Which you already are,”

She feels herself soften at his unexpected kind words. “Okay, you can stop now,” she says awkwardly.

“You’re going to have to get used to compliments. Once I’m done with you, you’re going to be a total babe,”

She shakes her head and gets out of the car. She doesn’t have much hope for this outing, but it’s kind of fun, in the oddest way.

“So what exactly are we doing at the mall anyway?” she asks, although she’s got a good idea.

Sweet Pea stops at a directory and she lets him find whatever he’s looking for. “You clearly need some more variety in your closet… We need to find something that’s more you than… well, this whole look,” he waves a circle in front of her and she frowns.

“I like my sweaters,” she says softly with a pout, but Sweet Pea ignores her as he leads the way.

They go to America Eagle first and he picks out a bunch of different jeans for her to try on. She thinks this isn’t so bad, she’s used to jeans, and as she tries these ones on, she notices they are a lot more form fitting and flattering than the brands she’s been wearing.

She pulls on a pair that she particularly likes, light washed, slightly above the ankles, with a couple of rips on the knees and thighs. “What about these?” she asks, in a much better mood than she’s ever been while clothes shopping.

Sweet Pea smirks at her, leaning against the open door with his arms crossed. “You’re ass looks… wow, Cooper,”

She rolls her eyes and pushs him out of the door frame before he can embarrass her more, but she smiles at herself in the mirror once she’s closed the door and turns to the side to have a look at her ass. The pants really are flattering.

“Keep those on and put this top on,” he instructs, throwing something light pink over the top of the dressing room.

She takes it, having a look at the pretty pink sweater. It’s not big like the ones she usually wears. It’s got a wide neck and it’s tight, the fabric thin with some pretty half see through pattern down the arms.

She puts it on and can’t believe her eyes. She looks so cute, and so…. herself. This isn’t much different than what her style is already, but it’s a huge upgrade.

She opens the door with a smile that she’s trying to contain, but can’t help beam when Sweet Pea looks her up and down approvingly and runs a hand over the bottom of his face. “God damn I’m good,” he says under his breath.

She rolls her eyes. “What kind of shoes do I wear with this?” She can’t believe she’s asking him for fashion advice but he’s weirdly good at this.

“You don’t strike me as the heels type, but we can definitely get you some flat sandals or something, and the Toms you already wear are nice with this kind of look,”

She looks at him like she’s impressed and he just shrugs. She swears she can hear his thoughts, and what he’s thinking is ‘I have a gift,’ 

Cocky asshole.

“I never thought I’d say this,” Betty says, checking herself out in the mirror and the cute figure she’s seeing back. “I actually like shopping,”

“Well,” Sweet Pea says with a brief pause. “You probably won’t like where I need to take you next,”

She looks at him through the mirror in question.

“You desperately need a bra fitting,”

Her mouth falls open. “What’s wrong with my bra?” she asks, choosing not to think about the fact that he’s been looking at her breasts again.

“It’s entirely too small for you,”

“How can you tell?” she asks, looking at her own chest. She can’t believe how different it looks when she’s not covering it up. It’s not like her breasts are out for the world to see, but her chest is free and it feels easier to breathe.

“I’m a tit expert, remember?”

She shakes her head and pushes him out of the doorway again.

At Victor’s Secret she refuses to let Sweet Pea be even remotely close while the woman gives her a fitting, explaining that she has in fact been wearing the wrong size. Maybe Sweet Pea is a ‘tit expert’, she has to stop herself from rolling her eyes at the thought of how he became one.

She finds him playing with a pair of panties towards the front of the store when she’s all checked out and ready to go. He just smiles at her knowingly and to her complete surprise, doesn’t tease her over the fact that he was right.

H&M is next, where Sweet Pea keeps throwing more and more things for her to try on. She’s really surprised by how much she loves the little sundresses. They seem to be his favorite too, because he keeps going back for shorter ones, telling her that it’s a sin she’s hid her legs for as long as she has.

She doesn’t let him go shorter than just above her knees, although he definitely tries getting her into a few way too short skirts. “One day, Cooper,” he warns. “One day,”

They end up leaving H&M with some cute dresses and tops, a pair of skinny leg black pants and pull over light sweaters.

They drop the bags off at the car and stop at the food court for a break. “What’s next?” she asks. She’s having fun but it’s also a bit tiring and she’s already spent enough money.

He takes a huge bite of his burger and she picks at her fries as she waits for him to answer.

“Not much, we’re just going to get you some makeup,”

“Makeup?” she asks in shock.

“Just have some faith, Cooper. Have I steered you wrong so far?”

Amazingly no, she’s had so much fun with him.

He takes her to e.l.f and once again she’s amazed at how well everything goes. There’s a sales associate there that helps her pick out a few things she needs for basic makeup, and even suggests a small neutral palette for if she wants something extra.

She holds the bag up as she and Sweet Pea walk out. “I don’t even know how to do my makeup,”

“Don’t worry about that. It’s my part of the deal to get you up to speed with everything, and might I say, you’re doing wonderfully,”

She smiles at him and he raises his eyebrows in surprise. 

“What?” she asks defensively.

“Nothing,” he says, but she knows it’s something. She doesn’t want to ask again, in fear he’ll say something else to make her blush like he’s been doing all day.

Even though she knows Sweet Pea would have sex with anything that moves, it’s still been flattering getting compliments from him all day.

“Okay if I come to yours?” he asks, dropping it.

She nods. “Yep, my dad’s out for the rest of the day so we have the place to ourselves,”

“I love what you’re implying, Cooper, but you gotta at least make me dinner first,”

She rolls her eyes and shakes her head.

They finish the shopping day by stopping at Target and getting a few cute shoes on clearance. She even picks up some ankle boots, which she never expected to like. They even have a little heel and she feels super comfortable in them.

Back at her place, she drops the bags off in her room then gets Sweet Pea a drink from the fridge.

“So,” she says with a sigh, looking in the fridge. “I could make some chicken schnitzels and vegetables, how does that sound?”

“Perfect,” he answers, offering to help.

She puts him to work and is surprised by how well they work together. She could do without his little comments about how she’s doing a good job at buttering him up before the big event.

“There is no big event,” she warns. “You could be the last man on earth and I still wouldn’t sleep with you,” Pretty intense but she thinks she’s getting her point across.

He just laughs, amused by her the way he always seems to be. “Sure, Cooper, sure… You can pretend all you want that you don’t like all this, but I have yet to meet a woman who doesn’t,”

“Well, you just met her,” she says, pointing a finger at herself before finishing his plate. 

“You say that, but no other woman has cooked for me before,”

Shaking her head at him for the millionth time, she lets it go. She hates that she does actually find him attractive, and while she does judge the women he’s been with, she also kind of gets it. It’s just that she knows him better than those girls do, and she just couldn’t do that with him.

No way. Just, no.

She wonders why she’s even trying to convince herself of that, or why she’s even thinking about it so much.

Sweet Pea is already stuffing his face, telling her how good it is, before she’s even started. She smiles though, because it’s nice to have others enjoy her food. Her dad is a big fan too, saying she got it from her mom.

She wonders if her mom was around, would she even have had to do what she did today with Sweet Pea.

Putting sad thoughts out of her head, she finishes her food and the two of them clean up quickly.

“Okay, I’m ready to see your room now,” he tells her with implication.

She ignores it but leads the way.

“Huh,” he says, plopping down on her bed and throwing his arm up behind his head to prop it up. She watches him in the middle of her pink bed, in her pink bedroom. “Hasn’t changed much,”

She ignores the comment, ignores how contrasting he looks in the room, and asks, “What, now?”

She regrets the words as soon as she’s said them, an amused smile playing across his face. “You put on the shortest dress we bought today and give me a little fashion show,”

“Not going to happen,” she shakes her head, crossing her arms.

“I go through your pantie drawer?” he asks, like an idiot.

“Sweet Pea,” she warns, her patience getting thinner by the second.

This time he rolls his eyes and sits up on the bed. “We go through some of your closet and make room for your new stuff, so you’re forced to wear it and don’t resort back to your old ways,”

She nods, thinking it’s a good idea, and begins with the bottom drawer of her dresser, one that's full of old sweaters.

“Later tonight I’ll send you some videos I want you to watch,” he says as they go through her clothes.

She looks at him with suspicion and he laughs. “I love that your brain went there, but no Cooper, not those kinds of videos, although I have plenty of those I can share with you too,”

She throws a sweater at him. She doesn’t appreciate all the teasing.

“Makeup tutorials, Cooper, makeup tutorials,”

“How do you know all this stuff?” she asks as she tosses another sweater into the donation pile.

He shrugs. “I have had girlfriends before, you know,” he simply says.

She nods, but she doesn’t actually remember any girlfriends, just that he likes to whore himself around.

“We should pick an outfit for you for tomorrow,”

She thinks it’s a good idea, and by the time she’s in bed for the night, Sweet Pea’s smell on her pillow, she finds that she’s smiling from how fun of a day she had today with him.

She’s both nervous and excited for tomorrow, but Sweet Pea has agreed to go in with her, so it makes it a little better.

In only one day, she think she’s become friends with Sweet Pea again… or maybe they never really stopped being friends, she’s not really sure.

Either way, tomorrow will be the launch of the semi new her. She imagines the clothes are just the beginning, and whatever comes next it’ll probably be harder than today was. 

At least tomorrow she’ll be back in her comfort zone, in the tutoring lab with Sweet Pea for their first session. She’ll also be going around meeting with all his teachers, to see where he stands, so that’ll keep her busy and distracted too. She’ll have too much going on to even think about Cheryl and Veronica, or Archie for that matter.

She realizes then she hasn’t thought of him at all today, and her anxiety grows a little, wondering if he’ll notice the change in her.

**Author's Note:**

> PS - I know Betty is a bit childish and judgmental in this first chapter, but the whole point is to give her some room to grow as we get further into the story.


End file.
